After All
by setorene-kinto
Summary: Setorene, the newest Z fighter, has been on Earth for one year. However, there are many who still do not like or trust her. Vegeta on the other hand is spending every day with this new saiyan girl. Can their friendship survive the torment of the others?
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Dusty here! Now, this is my first fic, but that doesn't mean i want you all to go easy on me in the reviews. Flames welcome, but try to make them a little more constructive criticism than flames. This story is based mainly around Vegeta and my original character: Setorene.

Just a couple of notes before we begin. 1. Vegeta can go SSJ4 without the help of Bulma and the generator. 2. There has been much dispute in the past about whether Vegeta and Bulma's Daughter's name is Bulla, Bura or Bra. I will be using Bulla, but only because that is how it is said on the series of GT I watch.

Anyway, enjoy the fic and get back to me on it afterwards!

* * *

"Final flash!" The voice resonated in the huge room. The beam of pure light and energy illuminated everything in its path.

"Haaa…Meeee…HAAAAAAAAAA!" the two blasts collided in the centre of the room, one pushing against the other, only to have the other push back just as hard. Fighting for domination over the other, they used up all of their reserves of strength, and yet were still as equals.

"Be prepared to lose, Vegeta!" Yelled the one behind the 'kamehameha' blast.

"Not this time! This one's mine!" the other one shouted back.

Just as they were about to take their attacks to the very limits of their power… the intercom sounded over.

"Vegeta! Honey, it's me! I'm coming over to bring in your dinner, okay? See you in a minute!"

Both of the occupants of the gravity room cut off their attacks. Vegeta trudged over to the control panel and turned the gravity back down to normal.

"I guess that cuts our training session short. You staying for a while?" He asked his sparring partner.

"I'm not supposed to be here, remember? Your _wife_ hates me and has no idea I'm here."

They replied.

"Oh, right." Suddenly, the tone sounded as Bulma pressed the voice over button from just outside the GR.

"Vegeta? Can you please open the door? I've got your dinner here." Vegeta looked to his sparring partner.

"Ah, I think it'd be best if you left before I let her in."

"How! That's the only door!"

"Damn! Hmm…" He looked around the room for some inspiration. Suddenly, he spotted the skylight on the ceiling… and proceeded to blast a hole right through it.

"Go, quick! Before the smoke clears!"

He watched as his companion flew up to the hole in the ceiling. Just as they were about to fly off, he called them back.

"Hey!" They turned their head back.

"Be here at the reunion tomorrow. Act as though we have not seen each other in a while."

"Will do, and you as well. 'Til tomorrow."

'You had better come back, brat.' He thought to himself as he watched Setorene Kinto fly off towards mountain area 429.

* * *

Setorene soared across the sky, up above the clouds as she made her way home. She contemplated the past few months. She had only arrived here on Earth around three years ago, but she was already friends with most of the Z senshi. Gohan and Videl had offered her a place to stay with them and Pan, which had been extremely generous of them seeing as how they had only just met.

Goku was always there for a spar, advice or even just a chat and a nice dinner. He approved of her right from the start, even if Chichi disagreed. He took her under his wing pretty much straight away. He was also one of the two only people who believed or trusted her when she first arrived on Earth.

The other one of these two was one of the least likely people ever and surprised everyone quite a bit when he said he believed her story. Vegeta. There was some kind of connection between them both. I mean, it's not as if Vegeta dropped the cocky attitude and the 'Prince-of-Saiyans' front he normally put on, no way. If anything, he amplified that when he was around her, but in a teasing kind of way. It was as if they had their own private joke about it. Only one thing brought them back down to Earth when they were off in their own world, having their own conversation.

Bulma. From the very start, Bulma hadn't trusted her, liked her or even given her a chance. She thought she was up to something the entire time. It didn't help that she was spending so much time with Vegeta. They had both enjoyed a challenging sparring partner and also a good companion whom they could have a conversation with. Setorene knew plenty about saiyan culture, history, geography etc, which made for an excellent discussion as they were always swapping stories.

After a while, Bulma had had enough of this. She refused to have Setorene over at Capsule Corp any more than necessary. She went to any means possible to keep them separated. That's when the 'training in secret' began.

Almost every day, Setorene would fly over to meet Vegeta at the most absurd hours of the morning to begin training and generally would not leave until well into the day, but she had always made sure it was before dinnertime so that Bulma had no chance of catching her as Bulma was only permitted to interrupt Vegeta's training at dinnertime or after.

Today, however, had been the first day they had ever lost track of time. They had not realized that they had worked their way into the early hours of the evening, causing her to make a quick getaway.

She chuckled to herself as she thought about how Bulma would go absolutely mad when she saw the hole blasted right through the roof of the GR. She had fixed the GR countless numbers of times thanks to both Vegeta and Setorene, though Bulma was stuck wondering how Vegeta could do such damage on his own. She had no idea.

Setorene hated to say it, but she took a great pleasure in these secret meetings. It made her time somewhat more meaningful and worth it, and she always felt uplifted and rather satisfied afterwards.

She was quite looking forward to tomorrow's reunion. All of the Z Senshi would be gathering at the Capsule Corps Mansion for a large party both for celebrating their years together and for reuniting with old friends. The only thing she had to remember was to act as if she hadn't seen Vegeta in months or else she might raise suspicions.

'It'll be fun to see everyone again and not have to watch my back around Vegeta. I'm so sick of hiding from Bulma!' She thought to herself. Gohan and Videl's two-story house came into view down below and so she began to float back down to Earth to return to the reality of life.

* * *

There you have it! first chapter of my first fanfic! Are you proud? Humoured? Sickened? Chair? Sock? Okay... i'll stop... for now. Anyway, it'd be great if you could review before you go and let me know how it was. Any suggestions? Comments? Praises? Ch... nah, i won't. Anyway, until next chapter! Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey peoples! Dusty Here! So sorry I forgot to actually put anything here when I posted chapter 2 for the first time! I only just realized after I posted it! Anyway, I'm glad to see that people are actually reading this! 2 whole reviews so far! That probably sounds really, really pathetic to anyone looking at this… but oh well. I also can't believe i almost forgot the disclaimer… okay, so I'm kinda slack…

DISCLAIMER: If I owned DBZ would I be writing this? Didn't think so. Don't own nothing apart from Setorene.

There. Now you can't sue! Hahaha! (I'd better stop before someone thinks up some way to sue me for something else…)

Anywho, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

After receiving a harsh scolding from Bulma and finishing off his dinner, Vegeta headed up to his private bathroom (NB—Capsule Corps is MASSIVE) to have a shower because he had worked up quite a sweat during his and Setorene's training session. On the way up, he ran into his son.

As he was going up one of the flights of stairs, he saw Trunks standing at the top, about to come down.

"Father?" He asked Vegeta.

"Not now, brat, I'm going to take a shower." He replied, brushing past him and down the corridor towards the bathroom.

"Father, this has to stop. You can't have Setorene around like this against Mom's will everyday!" He said, ignoring his father's comment. Yes, trunks had known about Setorene coming over almost since the beginning. He was annoyed, but let it slide as he thought it was only once every so often that she was there, but he soon discovered that there was not a single day that she wasn't training with his father. He had grown increasingly opposed to her being there and had occasionally made just a small comment about it, but had never pressed the matter. This time however, he was fed up with it. He intended to make his father see his and his mother's point.

Vegeta turned back to face him.

"And what would you have me do, then? Not train with her at all? Then I would have no training partner! And since when do you decide what I should and should not do?" He replied harshly.

"Father! You don't need her to train; you have Me, Goten, even Goku! And besides, she's a bad influence! She is untrustworthy, manipulative, lying…" He was cut off as Vegeta suddenly pinned his neck to the wall behind him using his forearm.

"And what would you know of her! You never sat down and had a conversation with her and tried to find out what she is like! You sound just like your goddamn mother! And I could never train with anyone else because she is the only one who puts up a decent fight!" He yelled straight at his face. He threw Trunks to the floor and spoke in his usual volume, but in an absolutely deadly tone.

"If you **EVER **speak of her like that again, and I mean **EVER**, you will face **severe** consequences, boy." And with that, he stormed off, leaving Trunks sitting up on the floor, rubbing his neck where his father's arm had pinned him so tightly to the wall that he could barely breathe.

* * *

A figure groaned in her bed as one cruel ray of sunlight shone out from a gap in the curtains to hit her right in the eye. No matter where she turned, the light seemed to follow. In the end, she gave in and sat up in the bed, stretching, ready for what she knew would be quite an interesting day. She then heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.

"Setorene? Are you awake yet? If you are, your breakfast is just about ready." She heard Videl's voice from outside in the hallway.

"Yeah, sure Videl. I'll be right down, just give me a minute." She replied.

She could hear Vided leave, probably to wake Pan up. She stood up and wandered over to her fairly large closet, opened the doors and scanned its contents before grabbing the nearest outfit; dark, washed jeans and a black tank top. She then headed downstairs.

As soon as she bounded off the last step down into the kitchen, she was hit by the luscious smell of breakfast cooking.

"Oh, Videl! That smells so good!" She said quite sincerely.

"Thanks, Seto. I'm just serving it up now. Have a seat." She replied.

Seto sat obediently, waiting for breakfast to be served. Videl took one of the pans off the stove and began laying eggs, bacon and sausages neatly over a couple of slices of toast.

"So, looking forward to today?" She asked as she was working. The question took Setorene by surprise, but she remembers Vegeta's piece of advice; 'act as though we haven't seen each other in a while'.

"Oh, yeah, it feels like so long since I have seen everyone! It'll be great to meet up with them again!" She replied.

Pan then walked in, half asleep and still in her pajamas. She stumbled to the dinner table before sitting down and placing her head against her hands.

"Morning, honey." Videl said, trying to coax some sort of speech out of her.

"Mrng." Was all she managed.

"Pan, you need to wake up properly. Go and have a shower and get dressed while I fix you some brekkie. We'll leave once you're done." She said, hoping to at least get some reaction.

"Whatever." Pan mumbled as she trudged out of the kitchen, up the stairs and towards the bath room. Pan was definitely not as much of a morning person as Setorene or Videl, who were both now sitting down and eating their breakfast hungrily.

"Where's Gohan?" Setorene asked, it just dawning on her that Gohan wasn't there, eating with them as he usually was whenever she was home during the morning.

"He's gone to pick up some food to take to the reunion. He's going to meet us there. Speaking of the reunion, we had better hurry or we're going to be late!"

After rushing Pan along a little just to get her ready and arguing with her about breakfast being the most important meal of the day and therefore she had to eat it, Videl had all three of them out the door and on the way to the Capsule Corps mansion. They had decided not to take the car or plane as it would be easier and they wouldn't have to remember as much stuff when they came home. They shot off into the sky flew until they could see the huge set up in the Briefs family's back yard (Which was more like an oval, being capsule corps!) and began their descent.

* * *

To all those who reviewed, I am eternally grateful! I also have a policy that is if you review my fic, I shall read and review yours! No exceptions!

**RomaniBriefs – **Thanks heaps! Your story has got me hooked as well so far! Writing a story together sounds great and I hope we can sometime!

**Just2kawaii – **Glad u like the story! Thank you sooooo much for reviewing! Hope you like the rest as well!

Next chapter shall be up soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! Finally another chapter! Sorry it took so long everyone! hope you all enjoy it

DISCLAIMER - Maybe i had a dream about owning it once, but obviously it's never gonna happen. I own Setorene, but that's it! Me no own DBZ!

* * *

Vegeta got up even earlier than usual to begin his training as the guests for the big reunion party were scheduled to arrive at around ten o'clock. He ended his training session at 8:00 a.m. so that he would have time to get ready for the party before-hand. As he went up to take a shower, he remembered his son's words from the day before.

"…you can't have Setorene around like this against Mom's will everyday!"

"…You don't need her to train; you have Me, Goten, Gohan, even Goku! And besides, she's a bad influence! She is untrustworthy, manipulative, lying…"

"Father, this has to stop!"

He huffed angrily as he let the near-boiling water run over his body.

'What right does he have to say such things? He doesn't even know her!' He thought to himself. It scared him how much Trunks' attitude was similar to his mother's, but what scared him even more was his own reaction to Trunks' comments.

"And what would you have me do, then? Not train with her at all? Then I would have no training partner! And since when do you decide what I should and should not do?"

"And what would you know of her! You never sat down and had a conversation with her and tried to find out what she is like! You sound just like your goddamn mother! And I could never train with anyone else because, unlike you weaklings, she is the only one who puts up a decent fight!"

"If you **EVER **speak of her like that again, and I mean **EVER**, you will face **severe** consequences, boy."

He ran one hand through his soaked, jet black hair and slammed the other one against the wall of the shower, causing a small dent in the tiled pattern.

'Damn it! I can't believe I lost my cool like that! I never get that angry over an insult! Not to my family, not to my race, not even to me directly.'

* * *

He buttoned his white shirt up over his tank top, checked his reflection in the mirror, not that he cared what he saw, and crossed his room to the door which he swung open to reveal the person he wanted to see **least **of all right then. Trunks.

"What do you want?" He didn't bother hiding the annoyance in his voice.

"Mom asked me to inform you that _they _are about to arrive." He replied in an irritated manner, before turning and leaving Vegeta leaning against the door frame.

He knew exactly from the tone of Trunks' voice who 'they' were. Or rather, who 'she' was. Setorene.

He made his way downstairs and out into the backyard. He was almost overwhelmed by how many people there were there, though he knew almost all of them.

Some looked older, some younger. Some had lost vast amounts of weight, and some had gained. Some had such different characteristics from the last time he had seen them that he barely recognized them. But one girl would remain exactly as she had been the last time he'd seen her. And the time before that, and the time before that. Setorene.

He scanned the crowd, glancing around, trying to spot her. He couldn't see her anywhere. Then, as he looked up, he saw three figures flying towards the party. Videl… Pan… Ah, yes. There she was.

He began to make his way over to a secluded space a bit further along the backyard, deeper into the garden. He would wait for a few minutes before going to see her, so that Bulma would not get _too _suspicious. He leant against one of the walls of the giant hedge maze (NB— Now don't tell me that you weren't expecting something like this! For those of you who have your heads somewhere up in the clouds, CC IS MASSIVE! So, naturally, they would have something like a hedge maze in their backyard.) thinking it would be enough to take his weight.

He was only leaning there for a few seconds when he began to feel a little off balance, which is when he realized he was falling into the hedge! He tried pulling himself out of it, but it was as if something was hooked onto him. He pulled harder and harder, trying to break free, but was no use, he was almost completely swallowed by the hedge, when he heard a voice whisper in his ear.

"Hey, don't struggle so much, you don't wanna rip your shirt, Geta." Someone told him, with just a hint of sarcasm in their hushed voice.

"Hey, what did you call me?" He asked the voice. "The only one who calls me that is…" He realized in his mind who it was dragging him through the hedge. He let his body go limp and allowed himself to be drawn through the bush. He landed with a thud on a dirt path.

Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked to the side and saw Setorene standing there, looking at him with a smirk on her face.

"Something funny?" Vegeta questioned.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." She replied with a small chuckle. She began walking down the dirt path, towards the centre of the maze, and made a motion for Vegeta to follow her. He did so, and followed her until they came to a small garden, fenced in by roses, with a set of white swings in the middle (picture Rivendell from LOTR) big enough to fit three people, although it was probably made for two.

She sat down on one end and Vegeta followed suit and sat down on the other.

"So, what'd the ha-, err, _woman_, have to say about the gravity room?" She asked.

"The _harpy_ decided that she wasn't going to fix it for another week just to knock it into my 'thick skull'. I swear, she will do anything within her grasp to get on my nerves! She's such a blockhead." He replied.

"Rather predictable, isn't it? With her temper, and having her blowing her top all the time. Don't you just want to leave? I would."

He thought for a minute. Then he chuckled to himself.

"Everyone's going inside to eat lunch. Afterwards, meet me here again. I must show you something."

And with those words, He took to the air and landed at the CC back door. Setorene followed, slightly intrigued by what he may have in store for her after lunch was over. She landed behind him. Just as he was going inside though, he turned around to face her.

"Oh, and I would appreciate it if you just called me Vegeta whilst in the presence of others."

"Whatever."

* * *

How'd you all like it? If you could review i would be reeeeeeeeally happy! and if you didn't already know, i hav a ppolicy going that says 'if u review my story, i'll read and review yours!' so it works both ways! and if u havent written a story, then just review anyway cause i reply to all of them in the next chapter! 

take care to all of you and i hope to hear from you soon! Ja ne!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all! now, before you kill me, just give me a chance to attempt to make up an excuse for taking so long with this chapter! Okay, now,most of you know that i am the epitome of laziness, (but wait, there's more!) but i have actually been pretty busy with end of term school work, holidays etc

Anyway, chapter 4 is now up and thats all that matters in my eyes! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Maybe i had a dream about it once, but in this harsh reality, i own nothing but Setorene, so i see no reason 2 sue!

All replies to reviews are at the end of the chapter (down the bottom of the page for those of you playing at home!)

NOTE: In this chapter, people start going mad and talking to themselves! no, not really, but anything in _italics _means that person is thinking, not talking.

* * *

INSIDE CAPSULE CORP

* * *

All of the guests were gathered inside and milling around, chatting with plates of food in their hands since Bulma had decided to make it more of a 'serve yourself' dinner as it would be much more sociable. They both went their separate ways after agreeing to meet afterwards.

Setorene made her way over towards one of the food tables and Vegeta to another before heading over to a secluded corner of the room.

"Hey, Seto!" Setorene could hear a lively voice calling her from behind. '_Only one person could ever sound that cheerful day to day._' She thought to herself.

"Kakkarott. It's been a while." She said, before turning and facing him.

"Hey, what have you been up to in the past year or so?" He inquired. "I hear you've been staying with Videl and Gohan?"

"Yes, I have. Pan as well. It's been great; they've been really good to me. How has your time been?" She answered.

"Pretty much the same as always. Goten has moved out and found an apartment in the city, so things have been pretty quiet apart from Uub coming to train every so often." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Hey, speaking of training, how's your training with Vegeta going?"

She hesitated slightly at this question, but answered the best she could.

"Don't you remember? Certain _people_ didn't want me around quite so often. I'm not supposed to be here at all apart from on special get-togethers and such, like this one." Goku lowered his voice almost to a whisper, so that only she could hear.

"Setorene, you know that would never stop you or Vegeta. That stubborn streak is too strong to be suppressed. You have been training just as hard even after Bulma kicked you out."

She looked quite worried after Goku's statement. 'Oh no, does everyone know? What about Bulma! This is bad.' Seeing the look on her face, Goku could guess what she was thinking.

"Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows, I'm sure of it. No one else in this room would realize it, least of all Bulma." That brought up a great relief in Setorene.

"Thank you, Kakkarott. I think it would be best if it stayed that way also, with no one else knowing."

"You can count on me!" She then noticed that Chichi came up behind Goku. She looked at Setorene, studying her for a moment.

"Hello, Setorene. I trust you are well. How are you finding your stay with Gohan and Videl?"

'_Hang on a second, isn't this Kakkarott's wife? The one with the frying pan? I guess I'd better be polite…_'Setorene thought.

"Oh, quite well, thank you. Both of them are terrific at keeping the house under control and I can see that Gohan is as dedicated to his work as ever."

Chichi smiled, her opinion of Setorene obviously lifted.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Please, do stop by at our house sometime, we would love to have you over for dinner."

With that, she turned and began walking the other way, pausing for a moment to stop and say hello to Bulma before continuing on. Setorene's attention turned to Bulma who was chatting with Bulla.

They were obviously gossiping to each other. You could tell by their body language. '_Like mother, like daughter I guess…_' Setorene thought to herself.

She soon realized that it was her that Bulma and Bulla were talking about. Every so often, when they thought that Setorene wasn't looking, they would glance in her direction and give her strange looks, even giggling at one point. Setorene let out a sigh.

"I'm never going to fit in here, am I?" She said to Goku.

"Don't worry about it, Seto! Sure you will. Some people just need some time to get used to the fact that you're one of us now. Even Bulma will come to her senses eventually. She just needs to realize that Vegeta's allowed to spend time with people other than her, Trunks and Bulla."

Setorene looked towards Goku.

"I'm still not sure about Bulma; she might never change, but oh well. That's her problem,I guess. Thanks, that does help."

"Anytime. I'll see you soon hopefully Like Chichi said, stop by sometime! 'Til then!"

He saluted and then turned, walking towards where Krillin and Yamcha were chatting.

Setorene kept pretty much out of everyone's way for the rest of the afternoon, apart from the odd person coming up to her to ask her about how she's been or comment on how long it's been since they'd seen her. However, she still got the feeling that most people were keeping away from her on purpose, avoiding her gaze and trying not to make contact with her. Even those who did come and say hello said it in such a way that it sounded, well, forced.

Hours passed and soon the crowd began to thin, beginning with the families with children, as the kids were getting restless and tired, so they were the first to go. Eventually, as she glanced over to the corner of the room in which Vegeta was previously standing, she noticed that he had moved. She looked around for a moment before spotting him close to the CC back door. He nodded towards the front door and then dissapeared out the back.

Setorene found Videl and Gohan and told them that she would go and 'visit Kakkarott' that night and so would most likely be out for the night and come back the next day.

She mentioned it quietly to Goku on her way out, and he agreed to cover for her without a fuss. Once outside, she searched for Vegeta's ki and found him sitting on the roof. She flew up to join him.

"Took you long enough." He stated.

* * *

"I had to think up something to tell Gohan and Videl. I don't want them making a fuss. I've managed to get Kakkarott to cover for me, so if anyone asks, I'm visiting them for the night."

"What! You told Kakkarott!" He practically choked.

"He figured it out for himself! You know him and how the whole 'innocent, naïve and gullible' thing is just a façade. He knows that Bulma's not gonna stop us, even if she doesn't know or think that."

"Fine. Let's go, just follow me."

And without another word, the two Saiyans took off into the sky at breakneck speed, heading towards the coast.

* * *

And now we come to the end of another chapter! If you want to see more, think there could be some improvements made, really loved a certain part or really dislike any of the ideas then let me know in a review! and as always, i keep my 'review my story and i'll read and review your's!' policy going. Even if you don't have a story, it's nice to hear from you!

Thanks to:

**RomaniBriefs:** Yes, there most likely will be more on people expressing their opinion about Seto, especially Bulma and Trunks! Thanks for being such faithful reviewer and i hope to see a new chapter on your story soon as well!

Only one review for the last chapter? aww,it wouldmake me sooooo happi if u reviewed, please? its a guaranteed review 4 ur story if u hav one and a mention in my next chapter! please?


End file.
